


The Forest At Night

by monocular



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, One Shot, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:34:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24873130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monocular/pseuds/monocular
Summary: A group of students venture into the forest with a mission to complete a school assignment. They aren't as alone as they think they are.





	The Forest At Night

“I don’t think we should be here…”

Minako clutched my upper arm so hard that I was sure her fingers would leave bruises.

“Ow, Minako, let go,” I complained.

She did, but she remained close to me. Dead leaves crunched like old paper beneath our feet as we walked. The sunlight was fading quickly, causing the tall trees to seem as if they were closing in around us. Our companion Akira’s form ahead of us was just as indistinct and shadowy as the trees. Thanks to Minako’s nervousness, we were lagging behind.

“Look, I just need some photos, okay? Don’t tell me you actually believe those stories…?”

I picked my way over a tree root that seemed as if it had been deliberately placed by a malicious soul to trip a distracted hiker.

“No, but…”

Minako’s voice sounded small and timid, almost lost in the rustling of the wind through the trees.

The forest did have a creepy atmosphere that could understandably have spawned a ghost story or two. It was eerily silent but for the crunching of leaves and the wind blowing through the trees. Curiously, the twitter of birdsong was absent. In fact, we hadn’t sighted a single animal larger than an insect.

Maybe that explained Minako’s unease. She had a reputation among our classmates for being sensitive. Not just emotionally, but apparently spiritually, as well.

Myself, personally, I didn’t believe in ghosts. There was always a rational explanation behind supposedly supernatural phenomena. The light playing tricks on the eye, hallucinations brought on by either drugs or stress… science could explain many things.

Besides, haunted forest or not, I needed these photos.

“You didn’t have to come,” I pointed out to Minako as I quickened my pace, hoping to catch Akira who had passed out of sight, though I could still hear his hiking boots crushing the leaves that carpeted the worn path.

Akira was our ‘guide’ for the evening. He claimed to know the perfect spot for my photography assignment. I was skeptical. If it was so perfect, then why had he bothered to tell me about it? He could have used it for his own assignment.

Yet, he’d decided to offer it to me instead. Minako claimed that it was because he was in love with me.

That was doubtful. Akira and I had barely shared two words between us before he’d interjected himself into my conversation with Minako and another classmate regarding our plans for the assignment.

The assignment our art teacher had given us was simple. To photograph nature. That was it.

There were plenty of pretty, scenic spots available. Our city had several nice parks, forests and lakes.

But then Akira had suggested this place: Sajuto Forest.

We had all heard of it, of course. It was an hour’s train ride out of the city and it had once been a popular spot for hikers. Until people had started disappearing. After that, tour groups had stopped coming, though locals still hiked here.

“Like I would let you go off with him alone,” Minako hissed in my ear. “He’s weird, Sakura.”

“He’s quiet,” I objected. Though I didn’t know Akira well, I, nonetheless, felt the urge to defend him. He didn’t deserve to be called ‘weird’ just because he kept to himself.

“Are you girls okay?”

Akira’s voice jolted my attention from Minako. He was leaning against a tree trunk, looking relaxed and rested, as though he’d been there for quite some time. Which was impossible. We hadn’t dropped that far behind him.

He was handsome, there was no denying that. His hair was as black as a crow’s feathers and cut in the style of a famous actor. His eyes were as dark as his hair and his skin was tanned coffee. If he were just a bit more outgoing, he could have been among the most popular boys in our year.

But Minako was by far not the only student who held the opinion that Akira was strange.

“We’re fine,” I assured him. “I guess we’re not used to hiking.”

I had worn sturdy boots but they were new and my feet were starting to ache. Minako looked even less prepared for the hike, dressed in her fashionable peacoat, slim jeans and pink boots. Her long black hair was tied back in a ponytail. Little gold heart-shaped earrings dangled from her ears.

Akira pushed off from the tree.

“It’s just up here,” he said. He reached into his coat and withdrew a flashlight. Its yellow beam cut the darkness like a laser.

Minako and I should have brought flashlights as well but neither of us had thought of it. Just like we hadn’t thought to bring water bottles. But Akira had assured us that we would be fine.

He was right about the spot not being far. Just a few minutes later, a glow began to creep up through the trees. They opened up like curtains being pulled aside and we stepped into a clearing.

Revealed before us was a surreal world. The flashlight was no longer necessary. The floor of the clearing shone with its own light. The blades of grass beneath our boots glowed fluorescent green. Around us, fireflies danced, looking like little floating stars.

I heard Minako let out a breath of delight. I took out my phone and started to take photos of the clearing. Akira remained at the forest’s edge. I caught the corner of his smile in one of my photos.

There was a chance that, due to the darkness, the photos wouldn’t develop, but I was prepared to risk it.

“How did you find this place?” Minako asked Akira.

“My dad found it,” Akira answered. “He hikes through these woods all the time.”

“Has he ever seen _it_?” Minako asked, her voice hushed conspiratorially.

“Are you talking about the ghost?” Akira’s voice was matter-of-fact.

I kept one ear tuned to their conversation as I took photos. I didn’t bother checking any of the ones I had already taken. We would have to leave soon. All three of us had school in the morning so we couldn’t spend the night here. I would just have to hope that some of the photos came out good enough to submit.

If not, I would have to go with my original plan of visiting the local park and taking some photos of the wildlife, as Minako had done.

“Yeah, the ghost,” Minako affirmed.

“No. My father thinks that it’s just someone living in a cabin out here,” Akira said.

“But, the people who disappeared…”

“Probably got lost,” Akira pointed out bluntly. “Those tourists don’t always come prepared. They rely too much on their compasses. Those things don’t work here.”

Akira was unusually chatty today. He seemed to be in his element. I suspected that he spent a lot of time out here with his father.

Maybe that was why he had such a difficult time making friends. He was used to being alone.

“Really?” I asked. “Why not?”

“It’s the volcanic rock in the area,” Akira responded. “It messes with the magnetic field.” His face glowed eerily green in the light from the grass, his eyes flashing as he blinked.

“Are you done?” Minako asked.

“Yeah.” I tucked my phone back into my jacket pocket.

“Oh, good. It’s getting cold.”

She was right. The temperature was dropping quickly. The wind had eased but the chill was sneaking between the buttons of my jacket to press cold fingertips against my skin.

“Let’s go,” I said.

We began to retrace our steps, Akira’s flashlight illuminating the darkness. Our progress was a good deal slower than it had been earlier as we navigated over roots and around small plants. They were no longer so easy to spot.

I estimated that we were about halfway out when Minako stopped.

“What’s that?” she asked, one manicured finger pointing at a tree on the edge of the path.

Akira and I stepped over to have a look, Akira’s flashlight focused on the trunk. Brought into stark relief was a patch of something red splattered on the bark of the tree. It glowed like the grass blades from the clearing, though it was much fainter.

I raised one finger to touch it.

“Don’t do that, Sakura,” came Minako’s objection from behind me.

“It’s still wet.” My finger came away spotted with the stuff. Ever the curious scientist, I licked it off my finger.

Kind of sweet, a bit coppery.

“Gross!” Minako exclaimed. She was surely regretting pointing out the oddity now.

If she knew my suspicions regarding what the substance was, she probably would have fainted. I decided to keep my silence.

It was probably the blood of an animal. Maybe a predator had been through here recently and scared off the rest of the wildlife? That explained why it was so quiet.

But, then, why hadn’t the blood dried?

Akira’s flashlight beam spun to inspect the other trees around us.

“It’s on the others as well,” he said, his voice carrying the same tone that Minako’s had when she was asking about the ‘ghost’ earlier.

“I think we should get out of here,” Minako said, her voice weak and slightly strangled.

Akira and I definitely had no problem with that. We picked up our pace. Akira’s flashlight beam kept sweeping out to the sides of the path, lighting up the red splashes on the trees. As we continued, the stains grew larger and larger until the trunks were covered in the sticky red stuff.

“This isn’t right…” Minako whispered from beside me. She was once again clutching my arm but I didn’t have the heart to ask her to let go. Honestly, I was glad she was right there because I could feel a prickling along the back of my neck beneath my curls. As if someone were staring intently at my back. The urge to turn around was almost overwhelming but I resisted it.

The only sounds heard amongst the trees were our own crunching footsteps anyway. If there really was someone following us, we would have heard their footsteps.

Akira’s flashlight froze as he sucked in a breath.

Minako squeaked, “What?” in a tiny, timid voice.

“Hello?”

Akira’s voice bounced off the scarlet trees, his tone authoritative.

“Did you see something?” I demanded. If I weren’t so nervous, I might have been embarrassed at how close I was standing to him. My shoulder was practically smashed into his, but I didn’t care. Akira was the only one who knew his way out of this place. I was going to stick to him like a tick to a dog.

“I thought I saw a light,” Akira said. “Like a lantern or something…” His voice trailed off uncertainly.

“There’s nothing there,” I said, doing my best to inject certainty into my voice.

Akira nodded, but he looked unconvinced by my tone. We kept going. I found myself checking my phone for reception. No bars. Not surprising, considering that we had lost service as soon as we entered the forest. That was entirely expected.

But it would have been nice to know that we weren’t completely disconnected from the world right now.

“Look.”

Minako’s voice caused us to pause again. I followed the direction she was indicating to see that there was a cold, neon-blue glow peeking out from between the trees. It bobbed as if someone were holding it while walking through the forest.

As if someone were carrying a lantern. I could see what Akira had meant now.

Akira’s flashlight flicked in that direction. The blue ball disappeared as if the torchlight beam had erased it from existence.

Minako’s breaths were shallow and fast. “Hurry up,” she said anxiously. “We shouldn’t be here.”

Unlike the first time she’d voiced that sentiment, I couldn’t argue with her. I, too, was getting the feeling that someone really didn’t want us here.

Twenty minutes later we broke out of the trees and onto the road. The welcoming lights of the nearby village beckoned like the porch lights of home.

Beside me, Minako took a deep breath, as if she’d just recovered from an asthma attack. She finally released my arm.

I took out my phone and glanced down at it. 10:18 pm. Two bars of service.

The last train left for the city at 11. We’d cut it close but we still had enough time to make it.

“I’m sorry,” Akira apologised quietly as we made our way along the gravel road to the train station. Being such a quiet, sleepy area, there was no traffic passing us by. “Nothing like that happened to my father and I.”

“Don’t apologise,” I told him. “It’s not your fault.”

The comforting lights of the train station bathed us as we sat down on a bench and waited for our ride. Once again, I took my phone out. On my left, Minako filed her nails, her attention fixed on her hands. They shook slightly, giving away the fact that she had not fully recovered from our experience. Akira fiddled with his own phone, a frown almost hidden by his shoulder-length hair.

Now was an ideal time to check the photos I had taken. I brought them up on the screen. It was hard to tell on such a small screen but it seemed as if they’d come out pretty well. Better than I had expected. Hopefully, they were good enough to present to my teacher.

But the last photo gave me pause. I spread my fingers apart on the screen, zooming in on a certain spot at the right edge of the photograph. Something didn’t look quite right. Had I accidentally caught Akira or Minako in the frame again?

No. It wasn’t Akira or Minako. My blood congealed to ice in my veins. The figure was mostly in shadow but the face was illuminated in the glow of the fireflies flitting nearby.

I had taken the twin gold flecks in the photograph for fireflies just seconds earlier but now I could see that they were eyes. Golden eyes. The face was inhumanly symmetrical and handsome. A long nose, wide mouth and narrow chin.

Someone had been in the forest with us. I wasn’t given to rash conclusions but I had to assume that this person had been stalking us. Why else would they not have made their presence known?

I slid my finger up, scanning the figure’s form. It was hard to tell as the light in this portion of the photo was poor but it looked as though the figure were wearing a dark green kimono.

A kimono? While hiking in a forest?

Something else caught by the lens of the camera drew my eye. To the figure’s left was what looked like a bushy tail. Red or brown with a white tip, from what I could tell. Was there a fox standing right behind the figure?

Or did that tail belong to the figure?

“What are you looking at?”

I hastily blanked the phone’s screen. Minako stared curiously at me, her dark eyes wide.

“The photos,” I said, sliding my phone back into my pocket as I prayed that she wouldn’t ask to see them.

“Did they come out all right?” Akira asked.

“They did,” I said.

I handed in my selection of photos that week. I never mentioned the figure in the last photograph to either Minako or Akira. I kept the photo, though.

I still don’t know what to make of it. The tail is there, unmistakable. Like I said earlier, I don’t believe in ghosts or the supernatural.

But the tail is there.

My internet searches lead me to suspect that the figure may have been a kitsune. Perhaps it had been trying to frighten us off.

Or perhaps it had nothing to do with the trees or the glowing lights. Maybe it had really just been watching us and there was some other explanation for the rest of it.

Either way, I’m not going back to that forest. Whoever — or whatever — lurks between those stained trees can have it to themselves.


End file.
